Cullen Clan and the Boy Who Lived
by ShopliftersOFTheWorldUnite
Summary: Don't you just love crossovers! Dumbledore left strange instructions for Harry before he died: Find the Cullens. Meanwhile, on the other side of the pond, Alice has a vision about some unusual visitors...ON HOLD! Don't be mad at me!
1. Magic? EDIT

**OK, so with this chapter in particular, the writing is not so different from the first draft since it's so short and all, but I appreciate anyone who is taking the time to read it.**

**If you are new to my story, I really hope you like it and would love to hear from you with any comments or criticisms. Thanks. By the way, the other chapters are longer, never fear!**

Alice's face smoothed over and her eyes clouded. I recognised the expression immediately; she was having a vision. I glanced over at Edward questioningly; he was staring at Alice with a frown rippling his perfect forehead. I clutched the sleeping Renesmee to my chest.

_What's wrong? _I used my newly perfected skill of lifting my shield from my mind to communicate privately with Edward instead of speaking out loud – I didn't want to disturb Alice. Edward shook his head infinitesimally. I recognised that it wasn't a snub; he would tell me when he had gathered all the information he could.

Eventually, life returned to Alice's face. I was shocked, and unspeakably relieved to see that she didn't look worried. I allowed my hold on Renesmee to relax slightly…just slightly.

'Who was that? What were they talking about?' Edward asked Alice quickly in a low voice. He seemed to still be replaying the vision in his head; it didn't seem to be making much sense to him. By now, the attention of the only other Cullens in the house, Carlisle and Esme, was focused as much on Alice and Edward as mine.

'Is it Tanya? The Denalis? Is there something wrong?' Carlisle sounded anxious.

'It's nothing to do with Renesmee, right?' I asked Edward, almost pleadingly, though I knew that Edward would look a lot more than simply confused if it were. He shook his head slowly, distractedly, and squeezed my hand.

Esme flitted over to us and put a motherly arm around Alice, who was still absorbed in a partially silent conversation with her brother.

'They're all alright, aren't they? Emmett and Rose and Jasper? The wolves?' Esme's eyes were wide, she didn't seem to find the confusion on her adopted children's faces as comforting as I did for some reason.

Finally Alice and Edward seemed to register our pleas for information.

'No, no. It's nothing like that.' They glanced at each other.

'What, then?' I burst out. Being a vampire hadn't made me endlessly patient like Edward seemed to be. Now Alice spoke, her expression almost bemused. That, in itself, worried me.

'Humans. On their way here. They know what we are, well, I think they do; they were talking about you, Carlisle…and…they're looking for us.' Now that _was _confusing. What would humans want to find _us _for? Especially ones who knew what we are; surely _that_ would deter them if anything would. My first thought was that the Volturi had somehow found a way to persuade humans to do their bidding…to confuse Alice so that they could come back for another go?

'But that's not all. They're not…_normal _humans.' Alice let out a puff of frustration. 'I don't understand.'

Carlisle, Esme and I looked worriedly at each other; it was never a good sign when Alice didn't understand one of her visions, especially when Edward didn't seem to either.

'They had these…kind of…wooden sticks…they were doing things that looked like…' She broke off and looked at Edward, who finished her sentence.

'Magic.'

**Thank you reviewers!! It makes me sad when I can't reply to anonymous reviews – especially when they make me smile. **

**I know this is bad, but the only one I can think of from the top of my head is Nina, who left me a really lovely review, and I'd like to say thanks for the support!**

**Keep reviewing!**


	2. Albus Dumbledore

**Just to fill you in – in the Twilight world, the story is set a few weeks post Breaking Dawn, meaning that Renesmee is still a baby/toddler and the Volturi have already been and gone. **

**In the Harry Potter world, the story is set after the Half-Blood Prince (book 6), meaning that Dumbledore has already been killed by Snape and the gang are about to start fighting Voldemort (they have been to Fleur and Bill's wedding already). The main difference is that Dumbledore gave Harry strange instructions before he died, and Harry hadn't really thought about them (being distracted by Dumbledore's death)…Yep, I think that's all!**

**Please review...I know this update came quickly, but I can't gaurantee the next one will be so fast if I get no reviews!!!**

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_What?_

The room was silent; Renesmee's fluttering heartbeat and even breaths the only things I could hear within the house.

Instinctually, I waited for the punch-line. This had to be a joke – right? Because I didn't think I could take it if I had to accept another legend as truth. I had already had more than my fair share of the supernatural; I was a _vampire_, for heaven's sake!

And then there was movement again. Our pointless breathing picked back up and looks of confusion crept onto Carlisle and Esme's faces as well as probably my own. Edward's arm crept round my shoulders and squeezed comfortingly. For a moment I forgot my bewilderment and nuzzled into his perfect chest. But only for a moment.

'Tell me everything, Alice. Who were they? Tell me everything you saw.' Carlisle demanded.

'They were in Forks, in a tent in the forest. I don't think they're going to come across the wolves – but it's possible since I can't see them.' I could still detect the bitterness in Alice's tone as she talked about her inability to 'see' wolves in the future. 'There were three of them, two males and a female. They looked like they could only be about seventeen or eighteen, and they were talking about you, they said the name Carlisle, and some other names I'd never heard…' She looked at Edward.

'I'd never heard them either. Someone called "Dumbledore"…it sounded like he was the one who told them to come to us…' He looked at Carlisle; whose eyes were wide and shocked. The name seemed to have meant more to him than it did to the rest of us…other than the fact that it may have been the strangest name I'd ever heard; but then, I _had _called my baby Renesmee.

Looking around, I realised that Esme's expression exactly mirrored Carlisle's. They both knew something about this "Dumbledore", whoever he was.

'Albus.' He whispered. Edward gasped.

'What?!' I asked frantically. Carlisle looked down at me where I was seated on the couch.

'Albus Dumbledore.' He expanded. Not altogether usefully, in my opinion.

'Who is Albus Dumbledore?' Alice asked, taking the words right out of my mouth.

'He's from England. Esme and I met him…it must have been nearly seventy years ago now. It was when Edward was…away…' I knew he must have been referring to the brief period which Edward had called his "typical bout of rebellious adolescence". I had never thought about what Carlisle must have been doing with Esme during this time until now. It was an odd thing to think about.

'We came across each other in a forest – not unlike this one, though it was much more dangerous – easy to get lost in.' Carlisle gestured out of the window to the surrounding trees just past the stream of water. 'We were in England for a time, only briefly.' He caught Esme's eye for a split second. 'We were, naturally, extremely shocked to cross paths with a human in the depths of-'

'Hang on, this Dumbledore…he's not a vampire?' Alice asked, again, voicing almost my exact thoughts. Carlisle shook his head.

'It was most unusual, to catch a human scent so deep into a forest without footpaths; or at least, none nearby. It was lucky we had just finished hunting, or the temptation may have been overwhelming.' He glanced over to me and I gulped back a mouthful of venom at the memory of those hikers on my first hunt…I forced the image and the dry burn in the depths of my throat to the back of my mind, this was more important. 'But stranger than that, he didn't seem at all lost. Not in the least concerned at the situation he found himself in. He must have been in his mid to late twenties, and yet he acted with the…demeanour of someone a lot older and wiser. Something about him made me think he knew what we were. Of course, he didn't!' Carlisle saw the look of horror on my face. 'He just acted like he did.'

'He seemed fascinated with us, not one word about what he was doing there, though obviously we didn't say anything either.'

'That's him?' Edward asked from beside me. He was clearly seeing a memory of this mysterious man in Carlisle and Esme's thoughts. Carlisle nodded. 'But what was he _wearing_?' My head snapped around to look at Edward incredulously. The last comment was so unlike him that I wondered whether I had heard correctly – which was, of course, impossible. Since when had Edward cared about what anyone was wearing?

'I know. He looked very mysterious. He was in a floor length dark purple cloak around his shoulders with a very odd set of robes underneath. Even for the time, he stood out.'

I raised my eyebrows. It was all very strange. But that wasn't what we should have been focussing on. The more important matter was why Dumbledore would possibly send three teenagers to find them nearly seventy years later.

'What else did they say, Alice? Edward?' Esme chipped in. Edward shook his head.

'I couldn't hear it clearly enough. It was strange, just flashes…sometimes they would just completely disappear.' He looked at Alice, she seemed to agree.

'It wasn't as bad as with the wolves, I could see and hear them sometimes. But only when they first set the tent up, then they did something and I was…I don't know…it was like they were blocking me out…I could see the forest, but not them. And then I got another glimpse of them when they were packing up the tent, they just popped back into view. They were talking about it being safer here, but not much…and how they were less likely to be seen. Then the girl started talking about this Dumbledore, and someone they wouldn't say the name of, 'You Know Who' they called him. They said that Carlisle might be able to help them…but they didn't seem to know anything about the rest of us, other than Esme, of course. They had wooden sticks and were using them to do things that…aren't possible…' Alice was rubbing her temples and had her eyes squeezed shut, as if she was trying to bring on another vision. It didn't appear to be working.

'So when are they coming? Did they actually say anything about us being vampires?' I asked. I was watching the darkening sky above the trees out of the window. I wondered where these people were, and why they were coming, and came up blank.

'No, they didn't say anything about that. I guess they couldn't know…but why would Dumbledore send them to us if he didn't know?' Edward replied. He looked almost as frustrated as Alice.

'Soon. They're coming soon. I'd give it two days, at most.' Alice put in distractedly. 'I don't think they're actually in Forks yet, but as I said, it's hard to get a clear glimpse of them.'

Two days.

'But what are we going to do? They couldn't be dangerous, surely! They're humans!' My scorn was slightly lost to the nervous tone running through my words. Edward leant down and pressed his face against the top of my hair. He took a deep breath of my scent, and I couldn't help but be reassured.

'You heard what Aro said in the clearing, Bella. Humans can be dangerous. Somehow I don't think this is what he was envisioning, what with what Alice and Edward have told us about the impossible "magic", we can't be sure of anything.' Carlisle sighed. 'We had better notify the wolves. Is Jacob back at La Push?' He asked Edward.

'Yes. But he'll be back in a couple of hours, after Billy has gone to sleep.' Jacob had taken to staying to eat with his dad at La Push then coming back here to see Renesmee before either running a patrol (which, in the current, danger-free climate, was pretty pointless in my opinion, though I may have been wrong…), going back home to sleep or crashing here. Rosalie usually had a few things to say about the latter option, though we were all, including Jacob, past the stage where we paid any attention to her when she was like that.

'Good. We will have to let the wolves know that we are expecting…visitors, and to let them pass.' Carlisle nodded to himself.

'We're letting them come?' Edward enquired, looking edgy. He ran a hand through his already ruffled hair, making it messier than ever. I grabbed his hand and squeezed it. He gave me a small smile before turning back to Carlisle.

'What else do you suggest? Albus Dumbledore may have been many things when we met him all those years ago, but he certainly didn't seem the sort to bring harm on us. He seemed merely curious, as so many humans are.' He gave me a swift grin, which I returned rather sheepishly. 'So we will let them come, and see what happens from there. As long as Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie are back, the wolves know and Alice keeps a lookout for anything more sinister, I can't see any peril, though of course that's not my strong point.' He smiled kindly at Alice, who ignored him and continued massaging the sides of her head.

'Bella.' Edward said after a few minutes of quiet. He got to his feet and held out a hand for me to take. I shifted Renesmee, making sure I didn't wake her, into one arm, and gripped Edward's outstretched hand with the other.

'We'd better take Renesmee home.' Edward told his family before nodding to them and telling them we would be back in the morning.

Hand in hand, Edward and I fled through the front door at a run and were back in the cottage in a couple of minutes. I couldn't help sniffing the air as we wove through the trees for any unfamiliar human scent. Of course, I didn't detect any.

Once back in the cottage, I put Renesmee to bed and joined Edward again in the next room.

_So, what do you think? _I asked him, opening my mind so that I didn't have to speak out loud. I sat down on the bed beside him and lay my head on his shoulder.

'I don't know. This is certainly out of the ordinary…and if I hadn't seen the…magic', he seemed to have trouble saying the word, 'firsthand, well, through Alice's vision, I wouldn't have believed it.' He ran his hand through his hair again. He looked so beautiful I almost couldn't stand it for a second. He was shaking his head in disbelief. I had the sudden desire to laugh; now he knew how I felt when I found out what _he _was…and then the werewolves! I was the expert on believing things that by any normal definition didn't exist.

Edward must have sensed my feelings, because he turned to me.

'What?'

I dragged the shield from my mind again. _Now you know how I felt._ I let flashes of my fuzzy human memories of those first few months in Forks flow through my mind into his.

They were cut off with Edward's smooth, perfect lips on mine. I gasped.

'Sorry.' Edward growled. 'But you know I can't resist you when you do that.' And then the doubt was all but completely forgotten as his lips were moving with mine once more.


	3. Cullens?

**Right, so here we have a chapter from Harry's point of view. I've kept it in third person because I don't want to stray too much from how the book is written. It's fairly short, as I didn't think that much needed to happen, just some explainations as to _why _the trio were going to Forks in the first place.**

**I wasn't going to publish this chapter so soon, but I couldn't help myself...**

**Please, please, please review!! I beg of you!!! The more reviews I get, the quicker I'll give you the next chapter (which is nearly finished...)!!**'What did Dumbledore say again?' Ron asked Harry for the millionth time, his eyes were focussed on where Hermione was casting the usual protective spells around the tent; she didn't say a word aloud, being able to cast spells without using the verbal incantation perfectly.

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Harry pictured again the wise old face of his headmaster: half moon spectacles perched on the end of a long crooked nose, piercing blue eyes that stared right through Harry's outward pretences, long snowy white beard covering his chin and reaching to his belt.

'He said if we were stuck…if we had no other ideas…to find Carlisle and Esme Cullen. He told me they're in Washington, and that they might be able to help us. That's all he said.' Harry sighed. It was becoming more and more painfully obvious that the information and instruction Harry had received from Dumbledore before he died was painfully limited. Harry hoped to anyone that might be listening that his headmaster hadn't just led him on a wild goose-chase – they couldn't afford to waste time.

'So d'you think they have some information? They might have one of the horcruxes, Harry!' Ron said excitably, his eyes were wide, and a smile had spread across his freckled face. Harry couldn't believe Ron had only just come to this conclusion; it was the only thing Harry had been thinking since that long forgotten moment in the safety of Dumbledore's office. After all, what else could this possibly be about? Although, if they did have a horcrux, it was unlikely that Dumbledore hadn't already destroyed it himself – or got these mysterious Cullen's to do it for him.

But then why would they even have a horcrux, anyway? It seemed most inconceivable that Voldemort would have come to America to hide a seventh of his soul, Harry had never heard even the tiniest hint that he had any place there that was particularly special to him – or that he had ever been there at all! But Harry knew that they had to take every piece of advice that Dumbledore had ever given them; it was their only option, however obscure and ridiculous it seemed.

'Harry, I just can't imagine there being a horcrux in Washington!' Hermione said, folding herself onto the floor beside Ron's chair. 'Are you completely sure he didn't say anything else? Not a clue-'

'No! He didn't! Do you think I would have kept it to myself if he did?' Harry stood up, frustrated. He could almost feel the looks of alarm being exchanged by Ron and Hermione behind him.

'Fine, Harry! I just asked, that's all. There's no need to get so angry, we know this is hard for you…' Harry flopped back down onto one of the tent's bottom bunks. He knew Hermione was only being Hermione, but sometimes he just wished she wouldn't. 'OK. So we'll go, but we need a plan. And we need to know exactly where they are. I mean, I don't think they could be expecting us, but Dumbledore might have set this up more carefully than we thought-'

'Harry, I bet that's it!' Ron said, again with the look of someone who had just discovered something amazing. 'The sword of Gryffindor! They have it! Obviously Dumbledore knew that the ministry wouldn't let us have it, so he put it somewhere that we could find it and they never could!'

Harry thought for a moment. It was more likely than the horcrux theory, but he couldn't shake the small voice in the back of his head asking _why? Why them? Why the Cullens?_ But Hermione looked thrilled.

'Yes, Ron! That must be it! I bet he's hidden some of the order for us to find…under a code name so no one would suspect! We have go, and soon! All we have to do is find out exactly where they are…I can't think of any way we could do that…but it must be possible…' Hermione trailed off, thinking hard. Ron just looked at her, his mouth slightly open.

'D'you know what, Harry?' He asked, as Hermione pushed her fingers through her long hair.

'What?'

'I love it when Hermione has a stupid moment!' Ron grinned. Hermione's head twisted sharply so she could glare at Ron while Harry watched in amazement.

'What, then?' She snapped.

'It's obvious, isn't it? How do muggles find each other, ey? All we need is a phone book! Dad has hundreds of muggle phone books in the garage, course, wizards don't need them 'cos they can just fling an owl and their post will arrive safe…'

Hermione looked as if she was torn between hitting Ron across the face and kissing him. Harry sincerely hoped she would not do either for a variety of different reasons, one of which that they didn't have time for the aftermath of sulking or awkward glances and blushing, they had to get going.

'Right. Good. A phone book, great idea Ron. But how do we get one?'

This time, Hermione stood up. She held her hand out.

'Invisibility cloak?' Harry handed it to her. She turned on her heel and marched out of the tent, covering herself with the smooth, silky material as she went.

She was back within ten minutes, a large volume tucked under her arm. She swatted her hair from her face and tapped the edges of the yellow pages with her wand. The book flopped open immediately at a page of C's.

'I thought they might not be in here! But look, Carlisle Cullen…and there's the address. It's in a town called Forks, in Washington.' Hermione looked excited.

'So when are we going?' Ron asked, he had already stood up and was poised to leave at any second. But now Hermione's face showed signs of doubt, a doubt that Harry could also feel.

'I think we should come up with a plan, just in case…'

'Good idea.' Harry said, Ron looked disappointed. 'The Death Eaters could have somehow found out about it…they might've set up a trap…'

Hermione nodded, Ron flung himself back into his chair and rubbed his eyes.

'Is there anything to eat?' Both Harry and Hermione stared at him, Hermione's stare looking more severe. Ron shrugged. 'I'm hungry.'

Hermione ignored him and turned back to Harry. 'We need to know what we're facing. It could be and old witch and wizard couple, the names don't exactly sound modern, and it's not like Dumbledore would have given the sword to muggles. I think we should head over there and keep watch for a few days under the cloak…just to see. Then we can go in if it seems to be safe.' Harry nodded in agreement.

It was only three o'clock in the afternoon, so they decided that it would be better to head off sooner rather than later.

'We'll just spend the night in a forest or something nearby, and then start the lookout in the morning.' Harry told them as they packed up the tent. Hermione undid her protective charms in silence as Ron pointed his wand at the tent, causing it to crumple messily, and then shove itself into the beaded bag.

They apparated in Washington a few seconds later, Harry and Ron having decided to hold on to Hermione's arms so that they all ended up in the same place. The forest they arrived in was very much like the one they had just left, though the air was cooler and had a moist feeling about it, as if they were in a cold steam room.

Hermione was the first to step out from beneath the cloak's protection.

'I'm fairly sure it's safer here than where we were before. I don't think any Death Eaters will stumble upon us by accident, and I can't imagine that You Know Who would expect us to be here…obviously, unless he's found out somehow.' Hermione pointed her wand at the beaded bag, and the tent soared out of it and erected itself in one swift move. 'I really do hope Dumbledore knew what he was doing…' she said as Ron and Harry pulled the cloak off themselves. 'Sending us here. I hope this Carlisle and Esme can help us, I really do.' She then proceeded to cast the usual spells around the tent. Harry agreed with her, he hoped so too, more than anything.

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**Now, tell me what you think...it will only take a second!**


	4. The Arrival

**I'd just like to say thanks for all the lovely reviews of the story so far; if anything's going to make me continue writing it's that!**

**I'm still open to reccommendations for good Harry Potter/Twilight crossovers - I prefer the pairings from the books, though (call me boring...). Ta. **

**I hope you like this one – it's from Bella's point of view again. Review please!!!**

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The morning brought with it fresh sheets of icy rain. The snow had been and gone with the bitter winter, but spring wasn't proving to provide much improvement. Of course, I didn't get cold anymore, but it was still a little depressing.

Edward and I were dressed and on our way to the Cullen house much earlier than usual, Edward scooping up a still sleepy Renesmee in his arms and carrying her carefully back the way we had come the night before through the dripping trees. They looked so beautiful together I could hardly tear my eyes from them as we ran – it didn't make much difference to my progress, though, it was laughable to think I might crash into a tree!

At the house, all the Cullens were assembled, on alert. Emmett, Jasper and Rosalie had returned from their hunt and had clearly been clued in about Alice's strange vision.

'Any change?' Edward asked Alice as soon as we got within hearing distance. Edward nodded, but Alice answered out loud as well for the rest of us.

'They're going to be in Forks tonight, but I don't think they'll come here till the morning. I think they might be working on a plan, but it's so darn hard to see them…' She stomped her foot. I almost laughed, until a strong wave of calm broke over me and Alice visibly relaxed, shooting a look at Jasper, who simply shrugged and pulled her to him for a second before relaxing into the same casual, movie-star stance.

'Mommy?' The little voice was unmistakable. It looked as though she and Edward were having a silent conversation which was broken by her question.

'Here, sweetheart.' I was beside her in a flash and she was passed to me from Edward's arms. Her long hair was slightly ruffled with sleep, and her cheeks were glowing with the pink she only got from a long, refreshing slumber. She pressed the palm of her hand to my face, showing her view of the room, of our family, looking ready for action. 'We're going to be having some visitors, Renesmee.' I told her. The picture she was feeding me changed to one of the odd collection of vampires she had gotten to know in the run up to our recent confrontation with the Volturi. I shook my head. She looked confused and the image changed smoothly into one of Charlie and Sue. She didn't think of the wolves as visitors, but as family.

'No. They're not like us or like Jacob or even Grandpa Charlie…though they might be similar to him. But you mustn't hurt them, OK?' She nodded, and then a picture of Jacob floated into my mind through her hand still settled on my cheek. I could feel the question behind the image. It occurred to me that I actually had no idea where Jacob was. He hadn't shown up last night before we left for the cottage, and preferred not to visit us when we were there after a very memorable night when Edward and I had been too…preoccupied to hear the sounds of Jacob's approach until it was almost too late…I shook the unwelcome thought from my mind and earned an odd look from Jasper as he sensed my flash of embarrassment.

But I didn't have to wonder for too long. The unmistakable sound of large paws beating softly on rough terrain, a slow, even heartbeat and deep, steady breaths floated in through the closed windows.

It wasn't too long before Jacob skidded into the house, bare-chested and shoeless, only a pair of ripped, grubby sweats clothing him. He immediately made his way over to Renesmee and held his arms out for her. I huffed loudly and rolled my eyes at him, which he didn't seem to notice, and then gave in and handed my baby over. She immediately put her hand to Jacob's face, obviously wanting to know what was going on.

'I don't know, honey.' He told her, finally looking around at the other people in the room. He seemed to catch on to the mood, and his eyes widened. Edward murmured 'In a minute' in response to something Jacob asked him with his thoughts. I had a feeling he just didn't want to tell Renesmee what was going on in too much detail. Not that any of us knew what was going on in too much detail.

Luckily, Rosalie appeared to be in one of her slightly more helpful moods and stepped forward and held her arms out for Renesmee. Despite being helpful, she was still Rosalie, and pointedly turned her nose away from Jacob, taking care not to touch him as she yanked Renesmee from him. Jacob's eyes narrowed and another wave of calm washed over the room. Muttering about _stupid dogs _and _stinks out the whole damn house, _Rose took Renesmee from the room, under the pretence that she needed to be fed. Renesmee didn't look especially happy about this, but seemed to sense that it was important, so allowed herself to be removed.

'What the hell is going on? It's not those Italians back again because if it is I swear to God-' Jacob made an angry gesture, and I was glad for Jasper's calming force once again.

'No, Jacob. It's nothing like that. But we are expecting some visitors.' Edward had not regressed to disliking Jake again, much to my relief, so his words were not sharp, only clear and informative.

'Humans?' Jacob sounded shocked. 'You told Nessie they were similar to Charlie…' I nodded.

'Yes. They looked like humans in Alice's vision. But we don't think they're…_normal_ humans.'

Jacob sank down onto a couch, his eyes flitting between me, Edward and Alice. It didn't take long to explain the few details we knew about the three humans, Dumbledore and You Know Who to Jacob. He asked if Renesmee was in danger and Edward told him she wasn't. That seemed to be enough for him. He simply stared at our faces for a few moments, seemed to decide we weren't joking, and rolled his eyes.

'Guess I shouldn't be surprised.' He shrugged and leant back on the couch, flipping on the TV with the remote and becoming immediately engrossed in whatever baseball game was playing. Edward chuckled quietly, I knew what he was thinking; Jacob had a point. Emmett settled himself on the other couch, eyes glued to the TV, just as Rosalie came back into the room with Renesmee. She extracted herself from Rose's arms with way too much grace for such a small child and toddled over to Jacob, climbing onto his lap and, after giving Edward and I a small grin, setting her sights on the game. I buried my head into Edward's chest – Renesmee _would _like baseball, wouldn't she. She just _would_.

The rest of the day was spent in much the same way. Most of the family were still tense, only leaving the main room of the Cullen's house in pairs to engage in short hunts close by; we all wanted to be well fed to face whatever the next morning would bring.

Jacob seemed wholly at ease with his surroundings, and what was taking place in them. His only concern was for Renesmee, as he now considered me to be invincible and perfectly able to be concerned about myself, so as Renesmee, as far as we knew, wasn't under any threat, Jacob wasn't worried. I decided that I was pleased about this, though it was strange not to have people fretting about me all the time, though Edward still made a fair effort.

Twilight came around much too slowly; I felt like I had spent the whole day staring at the clock above the TV. I wished I was able to waste some of the evening in sleep, like Renesmee was doing in Esme's arms when Edward and I gave up and decided to head home. Alice had confirmed that it was safe for us to leave for the night, as long as we were back before the sun was fully up. As it was still early spring and the mornings were pretty dark anyway, that would be easy.

Like the night before, Edward took my hand and I clutched Renesmee. She was still awake, but only just. Jacob had just left, much to Rosalie's joy, so Renesmee only had Carlisle and Esme to sleepily wave goodbye to (Rosalie and Emmett were upstairs and Alice and Jasper had gone to hunt), before my little family was speeding through the night.

I found that I was nervous when Renesmee had been put to bed, soundly asleep. Edward watched as I paced up and down the living room. I wasn't sure why I was feeling this way – it wasn't as if these three measly humans could _possibly _pose any threat to _us_, our clan of eight strong vampires and two packs of enormous werewolves if we needed them. We could take them in a second.

But secretly, I knew the thing that was freaking me out. It was the _magic_. I remembered, through a fuzzy human memory, something I had said to Jacob…it seemed so long ago, but really it wasn't even a year. It wasn't even six months ago…_How could I have lived through all that I've lived through and not believe in magic by this point?_

It was when Jacob was asking me, put up to it by Edward, of course, to get rid of Renesmee, my Renesmee…my little nudger, and have babies with him instead. Little did he know, little did anyone know, what a miracle she would be – how happy she would make him.

But did I believe in _this _magic? If I had been asked then I would have said yes. Definitely. Absolutely. But now, I didn't know what to think. I remembered back to the previous night, and what I had thought about myself being the expert on believing the unbelievable…I wondered if that was really true, or if I had been forced to believe before, having no other choice, seeing the evidence with my own eyes.

I looked down at Edward where he sat, watching me. He was my proof, my miracle. When I looked at him I knew, one hundred percent, that magic existed. _How could I not believe in magic by this point? _

By the next morning, it was as if my troubles had vanished. I felt the same way as Jacob and Emmett – this wasn't a threat to us, so why worry about it? Edward seemed to agree with me, though laid-back wasn't his way; he still seemed a little apprehensive. It was dark and gloomy outside, the weak sunlight of the day ahead not yet penetrating the thick clouds when we left the cottage at a run, hand in hand.

Emmett greeted me with a huge grin and a bear hug (I was happy to say that I now could officially testify that I knew what a _real _bear hug felt like, and Emmett's bone-crushing hugs were very similar, not that he could crush _my _bones, of course) when Edward and I arrived at the house with Renesmee.

'Ready to squash some humans, sis?' He asked me playfully. Carlisle looked disapproving.

'Emmett, we will not be _squashing _any humans. We will do them no harm, unless it is absolutely necessary, which I don't think is very likely.' Emmett just shrugged, his grin never dropping. Jacob was already there, and reached out to hold Renesmee, and I handed her over without a fuss; I knew he would feel calmer with her safe in his arms.

'They'll be here in about a half hour…I think.' Alice frowned, her musical voice betraying her frustration at her limited view. I knew that it was worse for her because of all the other holes in her visions she had discovered in recent months – the wolves and Renesmee. But there was nothing any of the rest of us could do for her, so she had to continue with her suffering in silence.

The half hour passed exceedingly slowly, each second seeming to last an eternity, though none of the other Cullens seemed to notice the phenomenon. But at last, Alice's eyes flew open and she stood up.

'Here they come.' She said.

Edward stiffened, clearly listening for new thoughts. I desperately wanted him to tell me what he was hearing, but I didn't want to disturb him, so I remained still and silent along with the rest.

Eventually, noises above the normal reached my super-sensitive ears. There were three people approaching the house, walking slowly at a human pace down the long drive. I could hear their breathing and their heartbeats…and a strange, almost soundless sort of shimmering – it was more like I sensed it rather than heard it – coming from their direction.

Then I could smell them. Hot, flowing blood under their thin, fragile skin, a different scent to each different human. I took a deep breath, trying to acclimatise myself with the aroma before they got too close.

As they got closer and closer to the house, the three heartbeats began to speed up…were they nervous?

They were taking so long to arrive, the sluggish pace making me impatient. Now we were all on our feet, waiting like statues (with the exception of Jacob) for our guests.

I heard the footsteps come to a halt when they were right outside the door. They stood for a moment.

'You remember what we discussed?' Said a female voice in the expected English accent. I could hear the two males nodding and murmuring their assent.

'Ready?' Came a male voice. There were three deep breaths and more nodding.

Then, after what seemed like a million years, there was a brisk rap on the front door.

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**Any comments welcome! (except really mean ones…)**


	5. Introductions

**Okie dokes, here's then next chapter you've all been going on about…I really hope it doesn't disappoint…that would suck. We're back in Harry's POV, this is the scene which made me start writing this fic; I really wanted to see how Harry etc would react to the Cullens. **

**I'm up for any ideas you might have plot-wise...I don't know if I'll use them but I think my own idea needs something...not sure what yet! I'm keeping the story T rated at the most, though (unless there is a REALLY good idea) because it's for my younger sister, who is, in my mind, too young for all that! **

'Ready?' Harry said. He didn't feel very ready, but knew he had to be; it was now or never. All three of them had their wands out and were gripping them tightly. Ron was still staring at the elegant white mansion in awe, his mouth slightly open. Hermione raised one arm, and knocked quickly on the huge white front door.

Harry hardly had time to take another deep breath of anticipation before the door was flung open.

Hermione gasped, and Harry could see why. The man who answered the door was the most beautiful human being Harry had ever seen, rivalling the Veela they had seen three years ago and knocking the lovely Fleur right out of the park. He had fair hair and the palest skin Harry had ever seen on a living wizard. His eyes were a pale golden, butterscotch colour and his features were set in perfect precision – straight, angular and completely symmetrical.

Hermione took a nervous step back, but it didn't seem to be out of fear; the man didn't have his wand out, and looked completely at ease, a welcoming smile on his faultless lips. Despite this, Harry felt distinctly uncomfortable in the man's presence; like he might somehow be dangerous.

'Hello. I'm Carlisle Cullen, how may I help you?' He spoke gently, with a low, musical voice, with a slight English accent. It was as if afraid of frightening them away. Carlisle Cullen. Just the man they were looking for. Harry was astonished they had found him so quickly and easily. Harry gulped and stepped forward.

'I'm Harry Potter. This is Ron and Hermione.' Harry gestured to his two companions. Ron was staring between Carlisle and Hermione with a disgruntled expression on his face, and Hermione simply looked dazed. Carlisle nodded.

'It's very nice to meet you. Would you like to come in?'

Harry looked round, first at Ron and then Hermione, who nodded nervously. Harry kept a firm grip on his wand, the handle of which was starting to become slick beside Harry's clammy palms.

The house was very large, and very bright. Everything was decorated in soft neutral white and cream tones, set off by a spectacular wall of glass in the sitting room Carlisle led them into. A gigantic piano dominated a raised area off to the other side of the room and the view from the enormous window was magnificent, but that's not what Harry's eyes were glued to from the second the three of them turned the corner and entered the room.

Eight people were waiting in the room. Three of them stood away from the centre against the back wall, three of them were seated on the sofa – one with a baby in his lap, and one, a woman, stepped forward to greet them.

But Harry was not staring due to the _amount _of unexpected people in the room. No, he was staring (possibly open mouthed) because they were all, every single one of them (with the exception of a massive coppery-skinned native American looking man with the child on his lap) were exactly as chalky pale and amazingly, overwhelmingly beautiful. Almost _too _beautiful.

At the back of the room were a man and a woman who were tall, blond and entirely perfect. They had matching golden eyes and looked like they should star in films and be on billboards – Harry thought the blonde girl may be the bestlooking out of the bunch if she didn't look so deeply threatening. The other figure at the back was a tiny little woman (she looked more like a girl to Harry), with spiky midnight black hair and a manically excited grin on her exquisite pale face.

Sitting stiffly on the big white sofas were what was clearly a couple – a boy and a girl in their late teens, the girl with long, thick mahogany locks and stranger eyes than the rest; a kind of amber colour, a few shades more orange than the others' golden. The boy had dishevelled reddish-brown hair and had a strange look of concentration on his chiselled features. He had a protective arm around the girl, which he seemed to tighten as Harry took it in. Then there was the huge dark-skinned man, who looked oddly out of place amongst the sea of white, and on his lap was the most beautiful child Harry had ever seen. She was pale, but with a slight rosy glow to her cheeks, which, in Harry's opinion, was an improvement on the other's ghostly complexions. She had wide brown eyes and ringlets the exact same colour as the boy with his arm around the dark haired girl on the sofa. In fact, the more he looked at the three of them, the more Harry was certain they were related, though surely the couple were too young to have a child that age…

Then finally was easily the most intimidating of all the collection; a bulky, muscular man who was almost the size of the dark skinned one, and looked like he could do a lot of damage if he wanted to. He made Crabbe and Goyle look like Girl Guides. Harry's wand felt very small and useless in his hand. He noticed it was getting a few odd glances, which was strange. He had short, black curly hair and a huge grin, rivalling the one of the tiny girl.

The final member of the large, strange group was walking towards Harry, Ron and Hermione with a welcoming smile on her lovely face. She looked to be the mother figure, as Carlisle looked like the father, though they only looked in their twenties or very early thirties, it couldn't be possible for them to be the parents of any of the others who all looked around the same age as Harry, Ron and Hermione and slightly older.

'Hello! I'm Esme. Let me introduce you to my family.' So here was Esme, Harry thought. She had no trace of a British accent. Dumbledore hadn't mentioned any _family _though… 'This is Edward and Bella' She pointed to the couple on the couch, who both smiled and nodded politely. 'Jacob and little Renesmee,' Jacob responded with a cheerful 'hey', as did the burly one when he was introduced as Emmett. Renesmee smiled and waved when her name was called, she seemed curiously intelligent for the three-ish year old Harry had taken her for.

The three at the back were Alice, Jasper and Rosalie. Alice had a high pitched, tinkling voice as she greeted them to match her tiny, slender body. Jasper smiled and nodded politely, but Rosalie hardly showed any sign that she even knew they were there.

'Um…hi.' Harry felt slightly overwhelmed; the vast room didn't feel as needlessly large any more, packed with these frighteningly gorgeous people. 'I'm…uh…Harry. This is Ron and Hermione.' Again, he pointed out his two best friends, who stuttered greetings.

'Why don't you take a seat?' Esme offered. It was difficult to be afraid of her, Harry thought, but the others made all the hairs on the back of his neck stick up…triggered his instinct to run…But he mustn't. He had to find out why Dumbledore had sent him here.

He sat down in between Hermione and Ron on the vacant settee. Ron's eyes appeared to be stuck on the tall blonde girl. Harry couldn't really be surprised, though, as this girl – Rosalie – was stunning on a level that even Fleur Delacour wouldn't have been able to reach. Hermione's eyes were flickering anxiously between all the different faces, though Harry noticed they were returning to the blond boy – Jasper – and the copper haired one – Edward – slightly more often than the rest.

'So, to what do we owe the pleasure?' Carlisle asked kindly, sitting opposite Harry, Ron and Hermione and switching off the flat-screen TV Harry hadn't even noticed was on.

'We were sent here.' Hermione spoke up. Harry could only detect the wavering of her voice because he knew her so well. 'To find you. Well, to find C-Carlisle and Esme.' She said the names with an odd tone of respect in her voice. The others in the room didn't look especially surprised by the news.

'Who sent you?' Esme asked in her sweet voice.

'Professor Dumbledore…' Harry, Ron and Hermione waited for some flicker of recognition or surprise in the faces, but they remained still as if they had expected this.

'Y-you do know him? Don't you? Albus Dumbledore?' Hermione sounded openly worried now. Ron shifted in his seat.

'We've met.' Carlisle told them. 'But only once, many years ago. Do you know _why _he sent you here? Where is he?' Harry felt as though someone had shoved him in a freezer and then bolted the door shut when he was asked the question.

'He's dead.' He told Carlisle bluntly. 'He was killed a few months ago. Murdered.' Harry couldn't believe they didn't know this already…who were they? The unsettling thought that they might be muggles crossed Harry's mind, but it seemed so unlikely – they definitely weren't anyone's definition of normal.

'What are _muggles_?' The voice of Edward, the bronze-haired boy made Harry jump. So they couldn't be wizards if they didn't even know the term for non-magic people…Harry exchanged a glance with Ron, who was evidently thinking along the same lines. But then, how would they know the word at all? This was just getting more and more bizarre. The other members of the Cullen family were staring at Edward too, as if he had just spoken Chinese.

Before they had time to answer, or even think through the possibilities of what such a question might mean, Edward spoke again.

'So you three are…wizards?' He looked deeply sceptical. Harry was even more bewildered. If they _were _just normal muggles, how would Edward know what they were so quickly, without them even doing any magic? And how would he know the word muggles?

'Yes, we are.' Hermione said the only thing that she could in the circumstances. Harry had a feeling that they shouldn't lie to these people, whoever they were.

'You do magic?' asked Carlisle.

'Yes, of course. But…but…if you're _not _magic how could you possibly know we are?' Hermione looked like she was only saying the words to cover up the fact that she was thinking hard of an escape plan. Harry felt an inexplicable wave of calm drift over him.

'We're not a threat to you. You don't need to leave,' said Edward quietly. Hermione gasped and Ron looked baffled. His freckles stood out vividly on his skin, which had turned pale.

'H-how did you…'

Carlisle sighed and looked over at Edward, who nodded his head once sharply.

'Wait, wait. Let me get this straight…you guys can do _magic? _Like, real magic?' Now the brawny one looked interested as his butterscotch eyes travelled between the faces of the three wizards. 'Prove it.' He demanded, though he still looked deeply amused.

'Emmett.' Carlisle's voice sounded in warning. 'Stop being rude to our guests.'

'Don't worry, Emmet, they will.' The tiny girl, Alice, piped up from the back of the room. Harry wondered how she could have possibly come to this conclusion, but Harry clutched his wand tightly in his pocket, not willing to do magic in front of muggles without a scrap of information about what was going on. Carlisle shot a silencing look across to Alice, who stuck out a pale, pointed tongue at him and stepped forward to join him on the couch. Her movement was astonishing…more like dancing than walking it was so graceful.

'Edward here tells me you are telling the truth, you really are magic. So I think that since we know your secret, you have the right to an explanation.' Carlisle told them. Harry raised his eyebrows…this had better be good. Edward chuckled quietly, so quietly Harry wondered if he had imagined it. 'We are vampires.' Vampires. Harry had met a vampire before, and he didn't immediately see the likeness between that one and these strange creatures. But it was true, the more Harry looked, the less human they seemed to become. It actually seemed rather obvious.

Harry's next feeling was alarm. Obviously, they hadn't pounced on them yet. _Yet_. But that didn't mean they weren't just playing with their food…Harry could feel Hermione begin to quiver at his side.

'We don't drink human blood.' Edward said. It was as if he was answering Harry's thought, and the way Edward liked at him made him very uncomfortable…it was like he knew all of his secrets. He had only met one other person like that in his life, and he would never again see those piercing eyes… 'We sustain ourselves on the blood of animals; we are opposed to the brutality of human slaughter. We do not wish to be monsters like others of our kind-'

'So there are more of you?' Ron interrupted, speaking for the first time since they had entered the mansion. 'Vampires?'

'Yes. They pass by from time to time,' Harry thought he saw the girl beside Edward – Bella, he thought she was called – shudder slightly as Edward spoke, and nestle herself closer to her partner. 'But we usually have an advance warning of their arrival, and tell them to refrain from hunting in the area; we would not like to arouse suspicion.' Harry nodded slowly. That made sense, as much as this whole crazy situation made sense.

'How are you warned? That the evil guys are coming, I mean?' Ron asked interestedly.

'I tell them.' Alice, the tiny pixie of a girl…vampire…said with a smile and a jaunty wave. 'I see visions of the future. I saw you coming.' She looked delighted at the shocked expression on Harry's face which was probably mirrored on Ron's and Hermione's too.

'Some vampires have certain…extra powers.' Carlisle told them. 'For example, Edward here reads minds, Jasper can sense and manipulate the emotions of others and, as you heard, Alice can see the future.' Harry felt a jerk in his stomach, not unlike the pull of a disappearing portkey. Edward could _read minds_? So he knew everything they were thinking? No wonder he looked like he was concentrating so hard all the time. Edward chuckled again as Harry had the thought. Harry shuddered. He had been right to think that they couldn't lie to these people.

'S-so are you…are you _all _v-vampires?' Hermione asked. I could tell who she was thinking about. The huge tanned bloke definitely didn't have the same supernatural look about him as the others.

'All of us, except Jacob,' Carlisle gestured towards the Native-American one, 'of course, and Renesmee.' He pointed out the child. 'She is a half-human, half-vampire. She is the daughter of Bella and Edward here.' So he was right. Harry had thought there was family resemblance. 'Jacob is a werewolf.' Harry turned his head sharply to look again at Jacob. He smiled awkwardly and looked down at the child on his lap, who put her tiny pale hand on his cheek. He nodded at her with a smile. It was a strange exchange, Harry thought. Again, Edward snorted in amusement. Harry didn't know if it was in reference to his own thought or one of the others', but he found himself slightly annoyed anyway.

'We know a werewolf!' Ron said excitedly. Jacob looked suddenly interested. Carlisle looked intrigued.

'The wolf they know is a true werewolf. A child of the moon. Infected by another and only transforms at the full moon.' Edward told Carlisle, who's eyes widened in interest.

'Wait…so what are you then?' Ron asked rather rudely.

'Well, I guess technically I'm not an _actual _werewolf…I can transform whenever I want and the werewolf gene's genetic, y'no, passed down the generations. We only exist 'cos these guys do.' He elbowed the one named Bella playfully in the ribs and she laughed and slapped his arm lightly. 'Our job is to wipe these bloodsuckers out. Obviously, we have a kinda odd situation goin' on here…' The rest of the vampires laughed, except Rosalie, the bad tempered blonde at the back, who just scowled.

'I think we can discuss this later, Jacob. I think the most important thing at the moment is why our young wizard friends are here with us today.' Carlisle lightly brought the conversation back around to business. This was the part Harry thought _they _should be able to tell him.

'We…well, we don't exactly know.' Hermione told them.

**OK I have to be honest, I've been having trouble with a chapter a couple down the line, so don't expect an update very soon, but you never know - I've started actually planning ahead so that could work!**

**REVIEW!**


	6. Author's Note Chap 6 Preview

**Author's Note**

**Right, so this is how it is: I read back the first five chapters which I have posted, and realised how rough and un-edited they are (that's because they **_**are **_**un-edited, but whatever). So the plan is that I am going to do my best to improve the current chapters, as well as keeping the story going as fast as I can, but this time I won't be publishing them without editing and stuff so they could take slightly longer.**

**If you don't mind whatever errors and things are in the story so far, it won't make any difference to you, but if anyone feels like reading slightly improved versions of the previous chapters, I will be replacing them soon so that you can read again. **

**I think that's all, and to make sure I don't get into trouble with fanfic or whoever for posting this as an entire chapter, I am giving you a little peek at part of chapter six…Hope you enjoy it!**

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'_We…well, we don't exactly know.' _Hermione said. She still looked nervous, and I didn't blame her, we were probably pretty scary to an outsider. Ok, we were _definitely_ scary to an outsider.

Carlisle took a deep, unnecessary breath. I looked up at Edward, who was frowning in his effort to take in any information he could from the human's thoughts.

'So this Dumbledore dude sent you here without telling you why…then he was murdered?' Emmett looked like he couldn't decide whether it would be too rude to burst into loud guffaws. The stern glare Esme gave him should have sorted out any confusion, and his smile faded rapidly into straight-faced seriousness.

'Yes, he did.' Harry said sharply. He sounded like he was getting annoyed. I had to hand it to him, he was definitely brave to be standing up to Emmett; it had taken me more than two years and an arm-wrestling match to do that.

'You said "_Professor_" Dumbledore…?' Carlisle seemed to ignore the tension in the room. Hermione nodded, while Harry sighed and the red haired one, Ron, stared around the room (mostly at Rosalie, but his eyes occasionally landed on me and Edward's arm would tighten and I would feel the beginnings of a growl in the back of his throat).

'Yes. He was the headmaster of our school.' Hermione was clearly the most practised at calmly answering questions – she didn't look nearly as wound-up or distracted as her two male companions.

'And you have graduated from the school?' Carlisle asked.

'No. Well, not exactly. We were supposed to go back for our last year this year, but…' she glanced at Harry, 'we have other things we have to do.' She finished cryptically.

'Such as finding us? Things that your headmaster left for you to do?' Don't worry; you don't have to explain it all to us if you're not supposed to.' Carlisle added when the three wizards started to fidget uncomfortably. I saw Emmett roll his eyes in the corner of my vision – I could tell that if anyone left it up to him, no details would be allowed to be spared. Well, as long as they were filled with some sort of action, which I was sure these details would be.

'Dumbledore left us something to do.' Harry said. 'We're not meant to tell anyone what we're up to though.' He glanced at Edward nervously, and with good reason since I imagined that Edward knew _exactly _what they were up to and would tell the rest of us at the first opportunity.

'Some of his instructions were a little…difficult to understand. He told Harry that we could come and find you if we got stuck…and, well…we thought we might start here. We thought you might have some information or…something for us.'

I looked over at Carlisle, as did Emmett and Jake. Renesmee looked politely bored; she was playing with strands of Jake's grown-out hair to entertain herself. Carlisle cleared his throat.

'I'm so sorry, but we know even less about this situation than you do. But if Dumbledore sent you here there must be a reason…'

But Harry, Ron and Hermione seemed to be having a silent conversation, using only facial expressions and annoyed huffs of breath.

'Oh, for goodness sake, Harry!' Hermione burst out eventually. 'They'll know anyway, he can read minds!' She looked up sheepishly at Edward. 'Isn't it better that we tell them the whole story than they just pick up odd bits and pieces from our minds?'

… There was a loud crack. I jumped up, as did the rest of my family, probably before the three humans even noticed anything.

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**There you go! Hope that will keep you on your toes! Remember: If you want to read edited copies of the first five chapters, look out for a note in the chapter titles saying EDITED. (By the way, the new versions won't be that different, so don't be disappointed, but you should get a handful of new things). **

**Phew, that was exhausting! Review with questions or comments or whatever. **

**Ooh, P.S. Thank you to my lovely annonymous reviewers who I can't send replies too! xx**

**P.P.S. If you want to read some good stories, look at my favourites - they're great, I don't put just any old story on there! I will be adding to them too so keep an eye out!**

**P.P.P.S. (sorry, I keep thinking of more things to write!) If anyone needs a beta, I will be free for loads of beta-ing in the next two weeks or so...look at my beta profile if you're interested!**


	7. The REAL Chapter 6 Lord Voldemort

**Here you go, the full chapter six! Finally, I know. Sorry it took so long...I've been really busy recently and the story's not coming along as quick as I would like. Y'all will just have to be patient ;) **

**Back to our lovely Bella's point of view for this one.**

**Hope you like it…leave a review!**

'_We…well, we don't exactly know.' _Hermione said. She still looked nervous, and I didn't blame her, we were probably pretty scary to an outsider. Ok, we were _definitely_ scary to an outsider.

Carlisle took a deep, unnecessary breath. I looked up at Edward, who was frowning in his effort to take in any information he could from the human's thoughts.

'So this Dumbledore dude sent you here without telling you why…then he was murdered?' Emmett looked like he couldn't decide whether it would be too rude to burst into loud guffaws. The stern glare Esme gave him should have sorted out any confusion, and his smile faded rapidly into straight-faced seriousness.

'Yes, he did.' Harry said sharply. He sounded like he was getting annoyed. I had to hand it to him, he was definitely brave to be standing up to Emmett; it had taken me more than two years and a legendary arm-wrestling match to do that.

'You said "_Professor_" Dumbledore…?' Carlisle seemed to ignore the tension in the room. Hermione nodded, while Harry sighed and the red haired one, Ron, stared around the room (mostly at Rosalie, but his eyes occasionally landed on me and Edward's arm would tighten and I would feel the beginnings of a growl in the back of his throat).

'Yes. He was the headmaster of our school.' Hermione was clearly the most practised at calmly answering questions – she didn't look nearly as wound-up or distracted as her two male companions.

'And you have graduated from the school?' Carlisle asked.

'No. Well, not exactly. We were supposed to go back for our last year this year, but…' she glanced at Harry, 'we have other things we have to do.' She finished cryptically.

'Such as finding us? Things that your headmaster left for you to do?' Don't worry; you don't have to explain it all to us if you're not supposed to.' Carlisle added when the three wizards started to fidget uncomfortably. I saw Emmett roll his eyes in the corner of my vision – I could tell that if anyone left it up to him, no details would be allowed to be spared. Well, as long as they were filled with some sort of action, which I was sure these details would be.

'Dumbledore left us something to do.' Harry said. 'We're not meant to tell anyone what we're up to though.' He glanced at Edward nervously, and with good reason since I imagined that Edward knew _exactly _what they were up to and would tell the rest of us at the first opportunity.

'Some of his instructions were a little…difficult to understand. He told Harry that we could come and find you if we got stuck…and, well…we thought we might start here. We thought you might have some information or…something for us.'

I looked over at Carlisle, as did Emmett and Jake. Renesmee looked politely bored; she was playing with strands of Jake's grown-out hair to entertain herself. Carlisle cleared his throat.

'I'm so sorry, but we know even less about this situation than you do. But if Dumbledore sent you here there must be a reason…'

But Harry, Ron and Hermione seemed to be having a silent conversation, using only facial expressions and annoyed huffs of breath.

'Oh, for goodness sake, Harry!' Hermione burst out eventually. 'They'll know anyway, he can read minds!' She looked up sheepishly at Edward. 'Isn't it better that we tell them the whole story than they just pick up odd bits and pieces from our minds?'

'She's right, mate.' Ron contributed in a reasonable tone. 'Dumbledore might have been mad as a box of frogs but he wasn't stupid. He'll have sent us here for a reason.' Hermione nodded along. I wasn't sure what do while they argued it out; Edward was already politely looking away, even though he was clearly listening to every thought process, so I decided to join him in looking respectfully distracted.

'Exactly, Harry. You need to start trusting people.' Hermione quickly went on before her black-haired friend could argue back. 'I know, I know; he said not to tell anyone except us, but you have to face the fact that they'll know everything anyway.'

She finally seemed to have made a breakthrough. Harry sighed and his shoulders slumped in reluctant defeat. Hermione looked to her friends for approval before she launched into the story.

'Well…so basically it all starts with a wizard named Vol-'

'I told you not to say the name!' Ron yelled, in what seemed to me to be almost on an Edward-worthy level of over-reaction. The way Carlisle's eyebrows disappeared into his hair told me I wasn't the only one.

'Oh, for goodness sake, Ron! You had no aversion to us saying the name a few weeks ago!' Hermione sounded annoyed.

'Yeh, well…I told you, I just have a bad feeling about it, OK?' He mumbled in reply, going slightly red. I held my breath for a moment; the warm blood seeping to the surface of the boy's skin looked delicious…Edward squeezed my hand…but bearable. Ron still fidgeted in his seat, not noticing how tempting he looked.

'Fine, fine. Well there is a wizard named You Know Who, You can probably hear the name in my mind?' She asked Edward shyly. He nodded. 'Um…' She seemed flustered. Poor girl, it happened to the best of us; I remembered when I first met Edward, I could hardly form a coherent sentence in his presence. Actually, I thought she was going a pretty good job so far not being distracted by any of the boys…too much, anyway. 'He, in short, is the most evil wizard of all time. He is probably the most powerful dark wizard there ever was. His aim is to purify our population, and resume what he and his band of followers who call themselves the Death Eaters believe to be our rightful place; ruling over the muggles. That means non-magic people.'

'But how are you guys involved in all this? I mean, you can't tell me you three are trying to bring him down all on your own…' I asked interestedly. I mean, maybe these three were good at magic and whatever, but I doubted they could defeat 'the most evil wizard of all time'…

'We have to.' Harry told me. 'Well, _I_ have to; these two just came with me…' Hermione rolled her eyes and Ron chuckled.

'But _why_ do you have to?' Emmett asked loudly. He seemed to be way too excited to be hanging out in a room containing three easily breakable humans.

'Because there was a prophecy made before I was born, saying that…I was going to be V- I mean You Know Who's biggest threat. He heard it, well, he heard part of it.' A strangely bitter look crossed his features. I hadn't missed the way he had paused before he told us that the prophecy was about _him. _I wondered what was going on there…

'And he was scared, he didn't want to be beaten – he didn't want the knowledge that there was someone more powerful than him out there. So he hunted down Harry and his parents.' Hermione continued. At this point she faltered.

'My parents found out he was looking for them, and went into hiding. Their hiding place was working, until one of their best friends betrayed them.' Harry spat. He looked murderous. I might have even been a tiny bit afraid of him if he wasn't just a human and I wasn't a vampire with super-strength and speed. But he _wasn't _just a human, though, was he?

'He found them? But what happened? How did you escape?' Emmett was practically on the edge of his seat.

'He killed my dad first.' Harry's voice was dead and lifeless as he spoke. I saw the pain in his green eyes and wanted to give him a hug, though I knew that that was probably the _least _helpful thing I could do right then, even if there wasn't the possibility that I would break his spine or drain him of blood. 'And then he turned on my mum. She refused to stand aside for him, so he could get a clear shot at me, so he killed her too.' I could picture the whole scene playing out in my head. I thought of steady, predictable Charlie and ditzy, disorganized Renee…would they have done that for me? Died for me? It was too painful to think about.

'But…I don't understand…if he could kill your mom and dad so easily…how come you're still alive?'

'When You Know Who killed my mum, she gave me a kind of magical protection from him. He couldn't kill me. Instead, the curse rebounded onto him. He didn't have enough human in him to die, but he was weakened, and was forced to flee.'

Jacob and I exchanged a wide-eyed glance. This was some heavy stuff.

'But as well as that, the curse that rebounded forced some of You Know Who into Harry.' Ron added.

'What?!' Emmett exclaimed in his booming voice, making Hermione jump. 'What do you mean?'

'Harry was given some of You Know Who's abilities. Harry can talk to snakes-'

'Like a snake charmer?'

'Emmett, be quiet.' Edward snapped. Hermione nodded gratefully at Edward. The poor girl was blushing again. She continued.

'It's called Parseltongue; snake language. Harry also now has the ability to see into You Know Who's mind.'

'Like Edward?' I asked, shocked. Harry shook his head.

'I don't know how your…mind reading works, but this is just him, and I can see where he is and what he's doing…as if I _am _You Know Who.'

'I bet that's useful.' Carlisle guessed. Harry shrugged.

'Sometimes. It makes me feel connected, to know what he's up to…but it's not…pleasant.'

Carlisle nodded.

'So then what happened? This guy couldn't kill you…and then what?' Emmett asked.

'Then I went to live with my aunt and uncle.' The bitter tone was back, not as pronounced as before, but it was definitely there. 'My mother's sister, her husband and their son. They're muggles. They…they don't like magic very much, so they tried to _squash _it out of me. They didn't tell me I was a wizard. I only found out when I was eleven, and got a letter from Hogwarts.'

'That's the wizarding school in Britain. Dumbledore was the headmaster.' Hermione put in, seeing our bemused looks.

'They told me I was a wizard. So I went to the school for six years.' I got the impression he was skipping over some of the story, and was proved right when Ron butted in.

'In that time he faced You Know Who four times, and fought the Death Eaters…' Ron said proudly. Harry looked embarrassed.

'You two helped.' He looked up at us, his eyes pleading behind the strange, round glasses. 'I always had help. These two, other students at Hogwarts, Dumbledore…' Hermione shook her head.

'Not always, Harry. You didn't have anyone in the graveyard when You Know Who returned. You fought him alone then. And other times, what about when we were flying to the safe-houses from your aunt and uncle's…? Harry was cornered by You Know Who, and escaped him, again-' Harry shook his head.

'No, Hermione, I've told you, it was my wand-'

'Yes, Harry, and I've told _you _that it's impossible for a wand to perform magic of its own accord. You were under a lot of pressure-'

'No. It wasn't me; I'm not making this up-'

'Um…Harry, Hermione…can you argue about this later?' Ron asked quietly, gesturing towards their large and intrigued audience. Hermione looked up, cleared her throat, blushed and crossed her legs haughtily.

'So, anyway,' she continued as if there had been no interruption, 'Harry heard the prophecy…the one that made You Know Who hunt him down, and it said that neither of them could live while the other survived.'

'So basically, one of you will have to kill the other? That sucks, man!' Emmett boomed, shaking his head. 'But how are you going to do it? You said he's not human enough to die…?' Harry nodded.

'That's because he made things called horcruxes. They're objects in which part of the soul is hidden. It's very advanced dark magic. To break the soul apart, you must commit the lowest of evil; murder.' Hermione said quietly and fluently as if she was reading something disturbing aloud from a textbook. Edward's grip on me tightened. For once, I knew exactly what he was thinking. Edward had always had his doubts that he even had a soul, and I knew that the news that if a wizard committed a murder, their soul would be split down the middle would not exactly be a comfort to him. His body was rigid, tense. I leant up to kiss him on the cheek, but he didn't relax. He didn't make a sound.

'Dumbledore thought that You Know Who would have made seven horcruxes. I have already destroyed one, and Dumbledore another. That means that we still have four objects to find and destroy – the seventh part of the soul is still in You Know Who's body.'

'So that's what you're doing now? Hunting down the horcruxes?' Carlisle clarified. All three of them nodded. 'But do you even know what they are? Surely they could be anywhere…?'

'We have ideas.' Harry said glumly. 'You Know Who was a collector – he liked things with history, that represented the most powerful of wizard kind.' The old, papery skin of an ancient, powerful collector _I _knew flashed across my mind. 'We think that he probably would have wanted to use an object belonging to each of the four founders of Hogwarts School – Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin.

'We know he is unlikely to have used anything of Gryffindor's though, as the only known Gryffindor artefact belonged in Professor Dumbledore's office, where You Know Who couldn't get his hands on it. And we know that he definitely used a locket belonging to Slytherin, who he was descended from, and we think he probably used a cup belonging to Hufflepuff. The Ravenclaw object – if it exists at all – is still a mystery.' There was silence for a split second while we took this in.

'But that's only six.' Jasper pointed out from behind me. The three wizards looked taken-aback at being spoken to by the otherwise silent Jasper for the first time. The room was silent for a moment, before a conspicuous feeling of calm washed silently over me, and I knew the whole room had benefited also.

'Yes. Dumbledore thought that the last one would be in Voldemort's pet snake-'

There was a loud crack. I jumped up, as did the rest of my family, probably before the three humans even noticed anything.


End file.
